Holiday Books

The 50 best books for holiday giving

It’s dark out there. And cold. And it’s only going to get darker, and colder. What you need — what everybody needs — is a good book. Good books lengthen these short winter afternoons and help you escape to other times and places. We are here to help. Our annual four-page holiday books guide highlights a dozen novels and a dozen books of nonfiction, as well as a liberal sprinkling of glowing picture books; important young-adult fiction; bold, gorgeous graphic novels, and regional books steeped in sense of place. In addition, our top 10 critics have each named their favorite book of the year. And because books don’t spoil and not all of the best books are new books, readers have written in with their favorite books to offer as gifts. (Everything from a gorgeous illustrated edition of “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” to the goofy books of Bill Bryson.) Bring these reviews with you to the bookstore. Load up on books for yourself and your loved ones. Feel the warmth. Turn on the light. – LAURIE HERTZEL

Two University of Oklahoma students have voluntarily withdrawn from the school after one appeared in a video posted on social media wearing black face paint and using a racial epithet, the university's president said Monday.

North Dakota's Republican-led Legislature reopened the abortion debate Monday following a six-year pause despite critics saying the state is setting itself up for another round of expensive legal fights over legislation they describe as misleading and unconstitutional.

For more than two decades, Houston has had competing parades on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, with organizers lobbing allegations of favoritism and conspiracy at each other and at city officials as the groups battled over permits and preferred starting times.